The present invention relates generally to elevators and, in particular, to a guide rail system for elevators.
In the typical known guide rail system for elevators, T-shaped profile steel guide rails are attached by clamping claws at fastening brackets installed in the elevator shaft. The guide rails are fastened together by flat profile straps positioned on the rear sides of the rails. This method is expensive due to the time required for assembly and alignment, and different guide rail systems were created in order to avoid the known disadvantages of this system.
Another form of a guide rail profile, shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,496, is omega-shaped in cross-section. At the butt joints, this profile, in place of a flat connecting strap, deploys a round profile connector of the same cross section as the clear width of the omega-shaped rail profile. The inserted round profile connector is firmly clamped in position by external tightening elements.
The European patent specification 0 149 773 describes a fastening device for guide rails of elevators which replaces the previously described clamping claws for the guide rails with a metal fastening plate having a dovetail-shaped cutout. After the introduction of the guide rail into this cutout, the metal fastening plate is angled with respect to the guide rail so that the dovetail walls engage and retain the foot part of the guide rail. The metal fastening plate is fastened in this position to a retaining bracket installed in the shaft.
The above-described methods and solutions still have disadvantages different from the disadvantages of the first described system. The attachment of the guide rails together requires many individual small fasteners and is intensive in labor. Furthermore, the coincidence of a butt joint and a fastening point must be avoided, which prevents the independent positioning of the fastening points.